Hey there Ogre Chronicle faithful, I know its been awhile! In case you missed it, as of a while back I was recently brought in on a freelance basis for write for an organization called Sportskeeda. While its definitely a dream come true to be able to write about games and get paid for it, it definitely eats up at the time for timely updates to my own personal stuff. But that changes a little today with this!
I recently did a photo shoot with my brother-in-law Christian who is a literal award winning photographer. In the past I've never been one to take many photos of myself, something I'm sure many guys can relate to. The pandemic only served to compound this being shut in so much of the time. In just about all forms of media, if someone saw a pic of me it was one that was at *least* a year+ old, and especially after all of the considerable strides I'd made in my personal health and body weight, i felt like it wasn't an accurate representation of who I am now. So to rectify this, we did this 4-phase photo shoot. The format of this post will be a little different than what I'm used to, with little blurbs on some of my favorite pics of the bunch. Thank you for reading this and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to you all! I hope you enjoy!
Phase 1: Suit and Tie. I definitely wanted these kind of pics for professional purposes. For years my LinkedIn profile had been an old pic from my sister's wedding over 5 years ago when I was still in Oakland with the Raiders. Obviously I wanted something more representative of the person I am now, so it was an easy decision
This blue suit was tailor made for my friend Christian's (Yes, a different Christian than my in law) wedding, and as basically the only nice dressy set of clothes I have that fit me after losing 70+ pounds, it was a natural choice.
I have never had to buy a tie once in my life because I could always borrow one from my dad's massive collection. Why one man needs so many I'll never know, but he was nice enough to lend me one of his favorite Versace ties for this.
Phase 2: Casual. So this shoot actually took place when I went up to NYC for Anime NYC from 11/19-11/21. Yes *that* Anime NYC where the Omicron variant of COVID was found on someone. I have incredibly shitty luck at times I know! I still don't regret going at all though, it was so much fun being around my fellow nerds, even having to go by myself due to a friend dropping out and having only part of my cosplay. I definitely plan to go to more cons in the future, COVID situation permitted.
Speaking of cosplay, I was actually supposed to wear my Nago mask and sword in some of these pics, but *literally* right as we were walking out to the balcony to do these shots when I was putting it on the strands snapped and I had to go get it repaired at the con. I am still pretty salty about this since some of the ideas I had would've been absolutely hilarious.
So fun fact, I wasn't actually supposed to wear this My Hero Academia shirt. I had a League of Legends Ekko one that is one of my favorites that is probably the greatest example of my weight loss experience. It was a XXL shirt that was entirely too small when I got it in 2018. After losing all of that weight, funnily enough now it is the shirt that fits me best when everything else in comparison feels baggy and loose.
One of the issues I have with taking photos sometimes is making sure my eyes are open enough so I don't look like I'm blazed out of my mind. Unfortunately this was one of them, but I'm still gonna post it cuz like J. Cole said "We ain't picture perfect but we worth the picture still"
Phase 3: Wacky. Basically I had the idea of what I would look like if I was doing a walk out for the main event of a boxing match. I already had the corals for another phase o I went on ahead and got a big ol' Nigerian flag for good measure. I'm not gonna kid myself into thinking this wasn't a bit thrist trappy but I've earned this mufuggas so you're just gonna have to deal :^).
After more than four years of weighing 315+ pounds, nine years of being 275+ pounds, and even peaking as high as 331 pounds right before I retired in February 2020, in these shots I am only 259 pounds. I'm honestly still in disbelief whenever I look down and don't see my usual belly overhang or a massive droopy chest. I'll always miss the beefcake life a little bit (my bank account will too) but like I've said before, my long term health is a priority to me and it was just time after hanging it up. I also kinda need to find a SO before my mom starts to get desperate and gets serious about arranging a marriage for me
*Kungpao voice* My nipples look like milk duds
So, a little story about why I don't have any tattoos on my body. I asked my dad going into sophomore year of college that I wanted Nigeria's Coat of Arms tattooed on my shoulder or back. While obviously he said no, it was one of the rare times he sat me down and explained why. Our family are the descendants of slavers, people who raided the villages of their fellow men and sold them off to the mayo menagerie of slave trading men from Europe. Those who would be shipped off would be marked, branded, or tattooed in order to be designated differently than those whom they would bargain with
Even if it was borne out of desperation due to the Europeans encroaching further and further onto Igbo land and desiring weaponry in order to protect themselves, it was still a heinous, self-serving, atrocious act that will forever haunt our bloodline. It's part of why my dad is so fervently religious in the first place, in order to atone for past sins. In order to both respect his wishes and to both honor and not forget about that same history myself, I refuse to get tattooed.
This pic frustrates me because I thought my facial expression looked great here then I realized my dumb ass was holding the flag backwards which is why it looks so opaque compared to the rest.
Part 4: Traditional Nigerian clothing. Being so busy with football over the years I really didn't get too many chances to wear things like these compared to when I was little constantly going to Nigerian parties with my parents. The dramatic weight loss was a big help into fitting in to these, not that most Nigerian outfits aren't inherently pretty loose in the first place!.
Imagine being so black half of your face isn't visible in a picture taken in broad daylight.
Trying to pop a slav squat but I just look like a fucking gremlin here.
And that's about it for this shoot! Thanks for making it to the end. I thought it was a ton of fun and am definitely considering doing another in the future when time permits. I'm sure a certain nigerian vampire samurai may also be involved...
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